17-Year-Old Belgian Fan Gets Modeling Contract with L’Oreal

It would seem that there are more winners at the World Cup this year than just the teams, as a 17-year-old Belgian fan received a modeling contract with L’Oreal after a photo of her surfaced online cheering on her national team.

Her name is Axelle Despiegelaere, and she got the attention of the entire world, but especially L’Oreal, when she photographed at the Group H match between Russia and Belgium. In fact, Axelle’s photo was so popular that she created a professional Facebook page for herself. It already has over 200,000 “likes.”

However, it turns out that this Belgian fan’s modeling dream may be short lived, depending on what L’Oreal decides to do after another picture of her has surfaced. This photo, though, isn’t as innocent as her cheering on a soccer team. Instead, it shows Axelle posing with a rifle and a dead animal in Africa.

“Hunting is not a matter of life or death. It’s much more important than that,” Axelle posted on her Facebook page, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

It still remains to be seen how L’Oreal will respond to the new photo. The company is a well-known advocate of animal rights and animal welfare. In 2012, L’Oreal donated $1.2 million to United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in an attempt to better the testing of safe chemicals.

You can check out the full versions of both photos below, and while I’m not against hunting, I’m definitely more of a fan of the photo of Axelle cheering on Belgium. What can I say? I just appreciate her spirited patriotism.

Chris is a graduate of Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia, where he majored in English and FIlm. He has been writing for TVOvermind and Uncoached for two years and has written about numerous different television shows and pop culture topics. Contact him through Twitter (@ckinger13).